Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Changing Tree in Oji (Oji shozoku enoki omisoka no kitsunebi), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
35 × 23 cm (13 3/4 × 9 1/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
13183
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Unlike most prints by Utagawa Hiroshige, this design is based on folklore. Japanese tradition holds that on New Year’s Eve, foxes gather at a specific tree near the Oji Inari Shrine in preparation for a visit to the shrine. On the way there, these foxes produce distinctive flames, which the local farmers use to predict the harvest of the coming year. Different shades of gray are used to represent the scene, set off by the orange of the flames. Stars are just visible through the bare branches of ...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...